In a world of increasing electronic communications and network connectivity, users are being inundated (and in certain circumstances overwhelmed) by the influx of messages received via multiple channels. Consider the case of an individual who may have personal and business email accounts, personal and business telephone numbers, and an instant messaging account. It will be appreciated that the organization and processing of messages received through these various contact points and mechanisms can be daunting.
In the case of a business user, there also exists the risk that high priority messages may become difficult to identify and prioritize, given the large number of communications that such a business user may be receiving. Ideally, such a business user would be able to readily identify and respond to high priority messages originating from an important client. While certain messaging applications today enable users to define rules to surface messages from certain recipients, the implementation of such rules may be beyond the technical capabilities of many users.
There exist a number of technical challenges to the processing of messages that may be received by a user through any one or more of a number of communication channels and contact mechanisms.